17th October 2018 – Cleaning day, the bottom of the ship was cleaned with a high pressure machine. I couldn’t do much, so I went to Antwerp to get some paint.
In the evening, I borrowed their high pressure machine and continued cleaning the hull of the ship.
16th October 2018 – What should have been an easy day became a long and slow process of getting the Watergeus on the slipway. I arrived at 8 o’clock, my skipper one hour later. The engine was running, I woke up my neighbour and he also started the engine.
The fridge and freezer were off because some skipper had decided to unplug me in favour of his ship. I can throw away all my food.
First, they had to move a spits barge with a dismantled engine, then they had to block a steilsteven, , unblock a spits and launch it in the water. Halfway the operation, it was lunch break. It took another two hours before they pulled the Watergeus out of the water.
Cleaning the hull is a job they will do tomorrow. There is to much work on the yard.
When I got back from the shop to get some new food, I started chipping the bollards. Since there are no ropes around them, it is the perfect time.
My new neighbour has a lovely steilsteven. A very nicely shaped vessel. Nice to look at and friendly people.
14th October 2018 – A bit of relaxing today, I spent most of my time aboard Tordino, who was open to the public. I was working in the Library sorting out magazines and making a plan for extending the exhibition space by adding a few walls.
13th October 2018 – Some more sleep would have been better, but I didn’t want to miss the Terra Nova Dag in Maassluis.
Besides being aboard on Hollands nicest Luxe motor, I went to visit the tugs Hudson and Furie. Maassluis is a small harbour with several tugs open to the public. In the old town hall is a museum about the Dutch towage history. I was short in time, but it was very interesting to see. Everything is run by volunteers and this makes it even more valuable.
We had a good meal aboard the Terra Nova before heading home. A nice and successful day!
Pictures of both tugs will follow when I’m back from the yard.
12th October 2018 – At 6 o’clock in the evening I got a phone call that the tugboat would arrive in half an hour. I was still aboard the Tordino, so I drove to Bruges. I was just in time to climb aboard, undo the ropes and see how the tug pulled us off as we left the mooring.
The rudders were not straight and there was no option in turning them since the hydraulic and electric system were dead. After removing the hydraulic pressure by cutting the pipes, we managed to move the rudders with a wooden beam.
Once Bruges was behind us, we went aboard the tug for the rest of the journey. Rob, the skipper, gave us some food and seven hours later,we arrived at the yard.
A nice journey, just enough time to drive to Bruges, pick up my car and return to Tordino.
11th October 2018 – There is a chance the Arma will go to the yard tomorrow. I still had to tighten the shaft as it will be towed. The people working on the Arma took most expensive objects in safety and removed the railing around the ship and the gangways. Saved me a lot of time!
10th October 2018 – The tug Kobbe came alongside the Watergeus. It will be drydocked somewhere next week.
7th October 2018 – The Watergeus is not the only ship that needs to get to the yard. My neighbour in Beernem tried getting to the yard at the beginning of September, but had some cooling issues with the engine.
We had a second look today, but with no success. At least we know how the pumps work, but we didn’t manage to get enough air into the bottles. 
If only we could turn this factory into a maritime museum. So many levels, so much space….
7th October 2018 – I didn’t sleep at all! To many boats passing by, to many waves, to much shaking around. When I was back from Aalter, I started working on another content project for Museumschip Tordino. I didn’t have the energy for working aboard the Watergeus. Maybe tomorrow evening.
6th October 2018 – I was up way to early, but nervous as usual. Not like Tordino, the Watergeus is a ship that doesn’t move at all.
There were still a few ropes I had to undo. In Bruges, it is sadly enough often the habit of people to undo ropes for fun. Therefore most boats have enough ropes and a steel cable to make sure it doesnt’t happen.
The crew arrived at 6:30 and we left straight away. The first part took us 45 minutes since we had to go in reverse. One we were through the lock and the multiple bridges in Bruges, the journey went flewently. The plan was to keep the engine running under 1000 rotations a minute and so we did. The journey took 2 hours longer because of this, but there was no overheating the fuel consumption was 70 liters for the whole journey.
At the yard, I managed to get some shore power, so I’m living now with extensions leads from the bedroom to the bathroom… Something I will change are my lights. I must be able, when I have no 380v available, to use the lights aboard.
5th October 2018 – There was a list if things I had to do and things I forgot to do. Both lists were equal. Slightly panicing of what could go wrong, I realised I was less prepared then usual. Since my car was already at the yard, there were no other options then to be creative with my tools and equipment aboard the Watergeus.
3rd October 2018 – Yesterday evening, with the help of a friend, I managed to get one archive cabinet of the Watergeus into my van. This evening I unloaded it and put it on Tordino.
3rd October 2018 – Thinking on how I will rebuild my interior of the Watergeus, in case I have to break it down at the yard, I started looking at some pictures. I’m always thinking the wost possible scenario, so I can relax later if it would go right…
While searching for pictures, I couldn’t resist sharing a nice interior of the Neeltje Jantje:
1st October 2018 – To become a proper museum, objects need to be numbered. This is one of the many criteria I need to work on. I wrote a small application, now I still have to fill up the database with the objects, description, pictures, etc…
This evening, I managed to add 300 objects. I was surprised how many artifacts are visible aboard Museumschip Tordino. It will take some time to have everything written down……
1st October 2018 – The anchor winch is fully working now. I mounted the last break. Another item I can remove from my list.